Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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31. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the way in which she plans to transform and improve the tourism sector to ensure this valuable indigenous sector recovers from the pandemic given that it has endured untold devastation throughout the past year and a half with an estimated loss of 100,000 jobs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47967/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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As the Deputy is aware, tourism has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, a Tourism Recovery Taskforce was put in place to prepare a Tourism Recovery Plan with recommendations on how best the Irish tourism sector can adapt and recover in a changed tourism environment as a result of the crisis. This plan has assisted me and my cabinet colleagues in considering measures that can support the sector. The measures we have adopted to date have been critical for the survival of businesses and jobs in tourism.

I appointed a Recovery Oversight Group to oversee the implementation of the Plan and they report to me on a regular basis with updates on implementation and the recovery of the sector. This group has recently submitted its third report to me. The report from the Recovery Oversight Group will provide invaluable input to policy as I continue to work, alongside my Government colleagues, to support the tourism sector in this most challenging period.

The Covid-19 crisis has left our tourism sector in a very weakened state but it has also provided an opportunity now to address sustainable tourism development in a more meaningful way during the recovery and rebuilding phase following the crisis. In line with our Programme for Government commitments, officials within my Department are taking initial steps towards the development of a new national tourism policy which will mainstream sustainability. The development of this new policy will be informed by the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Tourism Development developed by the Sustainable Tourism Working Group and be consistent with our sectoral climate change targets and commitments.

It is clear that the traditional model of tourism is changing and the development of this new national tourism policy gives us an opportunity to set out what type of tourism sector we want to 2030 and beyond. Tourism has proven itself resilient before and I am confident that, with the support of Government, it will recover from this crisis and thrive again in a manner which is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable.